Sloppy Joe

So I've been making a lot of freezer meals lately to get ready for baby. So I'm going to share a few of them.

This was super yummy. We ate half and froze the other half.

2 lbs. ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups ketchup
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 Tbs. prepared mustard
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
Hamburger buns

In a large skillet, cook beef, onions and garlic over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in ketchup, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, Italian seasoning, onion powder and peeper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Serve about 1/2 cup meat mixture on each bun. Or cool and freeze for up to 3 months.

To use frozen sloppy joes: thaw in fridge, place in a saucepan and heat through. Serve on buns.
Yield: 12 servings (about 6 cups)

Cake Mix Cookies

This is one my favorite super quick dessert recipes, and I can't believe I haven't shared it before! Since I can often get cake mixes for less than $1 at the commissary, and even at the super walmart sometimes, I keep a stock of them on hand for last minute dessert requests. Ingredients:
1 cake mix any flavor ( This particular mix was chocolate fudge cake)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of oil
chocolate chips (the ones in the picture are peanut butter chips)

1. Preheat the the oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Roll into balls and place on baking sheet
4. Bake for 5-10 minutes -watch them until they look right to you. - These particular cookies took 10 minutes.
5.Enjoy!

Easter Bunny Bread

Here is the Easter Bunny Bread I made last year. Thought I would share the recipe with you before Easter this year incase you want to try it out. Happy Easter!

The recipe is a little hard to follow. Click on the picture to enlarge it and get a better idea.

2 loaves (1lb. each) frozen bread dough, thawed
2 raisins
2 sliced almonds
1 egg, lightly beaten
lettuce leaves
dip and veggies of your choice

Cut a fourth off of one loaf of dough; shape into a pear to form head. For body, flatten remaining portion into a 7 in. x 6 in. oval; place on a greased baking sheet. Place head above body. Make narrow cuts, about 3/4 in. deep, on each side of head for whiskers.

Cut second loaf into four equal portions. For ears, shape two portions into 16. in. ropes; fold ropes in half. Arrange ears with open ends touching head. Cut a third potion of dough in half; shape each into a 3 1/2 in. oval for back paws. Cut two 1-in. slits on top edge for toes. Position on each side of body.

Divide the fourth portion of dough into three pieces. Shape two pieces into 2 1/2 in. balls for front paws; shape the remaining piece into two 1 in. balls for cheeks and one 1/2 in. ball for nose. Place paws on each side of body; cut two 1 in. slits for toes. Place cheeks and nose on face. Add raisins for eyes and almonds for teeth.

Brush dough with egg. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Place bread on a lettuce-lined 16 in. x 13 in. serving tray. Cut a 5 in x 4in oval in center of body. Hallow out bread, leaving a 1/2 in shell. Line with lettuce and fill with dip.

Mexican Casserole

I was looking for something quick and easy for dinner the other night and found this on allrecipes. I adapted it a little and it turned out really good.

• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
• 3/4 onion, diced
• 5 (10 inch) flour tortillas---I only used 3
  
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• tomato
• olives
• 2 green onions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a 9-inch pie pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a saucepan, cook refried beans and onions (to soften them) on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Place one tortilla in the bottom of the greased pan. Spread about 1/3 cup of the bean mixture over it. Layer a few tablespoons of salsa over this. Then, place another tortilla over the salsa, and add more of the bean mixture. Follow the beans with a big handful of cheese, spreading evenly. repeat layers, spreading the ingredients evenly over the tortillas. On the top layer, make sure to use lots of salsa and cheese!
4. Bake until the cheese is melted, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

**I put a tomato, olive and cheese between each layer and green onions on top. **

Partytime Beans

This is so yummy! A must try! We made this for Johnny's parent's, everyone loved it.

Makes a lot: 16 servings
good over rice the next day or put into a tortilla.

1-1/2 c. ketchup
1 med. onion, chopped
1 med. green pepper, chopped
1 med. sweet red pepper, chopped
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 bay leaves
2-3 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. ground mustard
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-1/2oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-1/4 oz) Lima beans
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-1/2 oz) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

In a 5 qt. slow cooker, combine first 10 ingredients. Add beans and peas; mix well. Cover and cook on low 5-7 hours (Ours was more like 3 hours) or until onion and peppers are tender. Remove bay leaves. Enjoy!

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

My friend Heidi made this for us. So yummy! The bread is absolutely divine!

This makes a lot! You could half the recipe or make it all and freeze half.

Ingredients:

1 recipe Bread Dough

2 lbs. thinly sliced ham

1 c. Cream cheese

1/2 c. A1 Sauce (We used BBQ)

1/2 c. butter, melted

1.5 c. fresh parmesan cheese

Bread Dough:

3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 pkgs. dry yeast

4.5 tsp. salt

3 c. water

3 3/4 c. milk

12-13.5 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

3.4 c shortening

In a sauce pan, cook potatoes covered in water until tender(10-15 min), drain and mash. Measure 1.5 cup mashed potatoes and set aside. In a large bowl combine 6 c flour and yeast. In sauce pan heat milk, sugar, shortening and salt until warm, stirring constantly until shortening almost melts. Add to dry mixture, add egg and potato. Beat on low with mixer for 1/2 minute, scrapping sides constantly. Beat on high for 3 min. By hand, add remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead 6-8 min. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about and hour). Punch down, turn out on lightly floured surface. Let rise 10 minutes.

After dough has risen, take big pieces of dough and flatten them. Brush them with melted butter and place 3 large, thin ham slices on each. Spread cream cheese over ham and drizzle 1 tsp. A1 Sauce through the center of the roll. Wrap dough around ham and tighten the edges. Brush with butter and roll in fresh Parmesan cheese. Place on cookie sheet and let rise 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees until golden, approximately 20-30 minutes.

That is the recipe. It makes about 10-12 servings or in our case about 12-14 sandwiches. If we were to make it again I'd put more BBQ in then we did and maybe whip the cream cheese and more smoothly put it in. Those two ingredience add a lot of flavor.

Fried Tortilla's

My sister Tiffany sent this to me. Really good and simple! They almost remind me of Jack in the box taco's.

1 lb. hamburger meat
small corn tortilla's
favorite meat seasoning (she uses McCormick's all season mix)

Blend seasonings into meat. Roll meat into long, not too fat worms. Take your tortilla and put it in a pan of hot oil for a minute then turn it and put your meat in and fold over. Cook until meat is done. Let dry on paper towels. Good served with sour cream.